Mencius Chapter 28

1. Mencius said, 'For the mouth to desire sweet tastes, the eye to
desire beautiful colours, the ear to desire pleasant sounds, the nose to
desire fragrant odours, and the four limbs to desire ease and rest;-- these
things are natural. But there is the appointment of Heaven in connexion
with them, and the superior man does not say of his pursuit of them, "It is
my nature."

2. 'The exercise of love between father and son, the observance of
righteousness between sovereign and minister, the rules of ceremony between
guest and host, the display of knowledge in recognising the talented, and
the fulfilling the heavenly course by the sage;-- these are the appointment
of Heaven. But there is an adaptation of our nature for them. The superior
man does not say, in reference to them, "It is the appointment of
Heaven."'

3. The reply was, 'A man who commands our liking is what is called a
good man.

4. 'He whose goodness is part of himself is what is called real man.

5. 'He whose goodness has been filled up is what is called beautiful
man.

6. He whose completed goodness is brightly displayed is what is called a
great man.

7. 'When this great man exercises a transforming influence, he is what is
called a sage.

8. 'When the sage is beyond our knowledge, he is what is called a
spirit-man.

9. 'Yo-chang is between the two first characters, and below the four
last.'

1. Mencius said, 'Those who are fleeing from the errors of Mo naturally
turn to Yang, and those who are fleeing from the errors of Yang naturally
turn to orthodoxy. When they so turn, they should at once and simply be
received.

2. 'Those who nowadays dispute with the followers of Yang and Mo do so
as if they were pursuing a stray pig, the leg of which, after they have got
it to enter the pen, they proceed to tie.'

Mencius said, 'There are the exactions of hempen-cloth and silk, of
grain, and of personal service. The prince requires but one of these at
once, deferring the other two. If he require two of them at once, then the
people die of hunger. If he require the three at once, then fathers and
sons are separated.'

Mencius said, 'The precious things of a prince are three;-- the
territory, the people, the government and its business. If one value as
most precious pearls and jade, calamity is sure to befall him.'

Pan-ch'ang Kwo having obtained an official situation in Ch'î,
Mencius said, 'He is a dead man, that Pan-ch'ang Kwo!' Pan-chang Kwo being
put to death, the disciples asked, saying, 'How did you know, Master, that
he would meet with death?' Mencius replied, 'He was a man, who had a little
ability, but had not learned the great doctrines of the superior man. He
was just qualified to bring death upon himself, but for nothing more.'

1. When Mencius went to T'ang, he was lodged in the Upper palace. A
sandal in the process of making had been placed there in a window, and when
the keeper of the place came to look for it, he could not find it.

2. On this, some one asked Mencius, saying, 'Is it thus that your
followers pilfer?' Mencius replied, 'Do you think that they came here to
pilfer the sandal?' The man said, 'I apprehend not. But you, Master, having
arranged to give lessons, do not go back to inquire into the past, and you
do not reject those who come to you. If they come with the mind to learn,
you receive them without any more ado.'

1. Mencius said, 'All men have some things which they cannot bear;--
extend that feeling to what they can bear, and benevolence will be the
result. All men have some things which they will not do;-- extend that
feeling to the things which they do, and righteousness will be the
result.

2. 'If a man can give full development to the feeling which makes him
shrink from injuring others, his benevolence will be more than can be
called into practice. If he can give full development to the feeling which
refuses to break through, or jump over, a wall, his righteousness will be
more than can be called into practice.

3. 'If he can give full development to the real feeling of dislike with
which he receives the salutation, "Thou," "Thou," he will act righteously
in all places and circumstances.

4. 'When a scholar speaks what he ought not to speak, by guile of speech
seeking to gain some end; and when he does not speak what he ought to
speak, by guile of silence seeking to gain some end;-- both these cases are
of a piece with breaking through a neighbour's wall.'

1. Mencius said, 'Words which are simple, while their meaning is
far-reaching, are good words. Principles which, as held, are compendious,
while their application is extensive, are good principles. The words of the
superior man do not go below the girdle, but great principles are contained
in them.

2. 'The principle which the superior man holds is that of personal
cultivation, but the kingdom is thereby tranquillized.

3. 'The disease of men is this:-- that they neglect their own fields,
and go to weed the fields of others, and that what they require from others
is great, while what they lay upon themselves is light.'

1. Mencius said, 'Yâo and Shun were what they were by nature;
T'ang and Wû were so by returning to natural virtue.

2. 'When all the movements, in the countenance and every turn of the
body, are exactly what is proper, that shows the extreme degree of the
complete virtue. Weeping for the dead should be from real sorrow, and not
because of the living. The regular path of virtue is to be pursued without
any bend, and from no view to emolument. The words should all be
necessarily sincere, not with any desire to do what is right.

3. 'The superior man performs the law of right, and thereby waits simply
for what has been appointed.'

1. Mencius said, 'Those who give counsel to the great should
despise them, and not look at their pomp and display.

2. 'Halls several times eight cubits high, with beams projecting several
cubits;-- these, if my wishes were to be realized, I would not have. Food
spread before me over ten cubits square, and attendants and concubines to
the amount of hundreds;-- these, though my wishes were realized, I would
not have. Pleasure and wine, and the dash of hunting, with thousands of
chariots following after me;-- these, though my wishes were realized, I
would not have. What they esteem are what I would have nothing to do with;
what I esteem are the rules of the ancients.-- Why should I stand in awe of
them?'

Mencius said, 'To nourish the mind there is nothing better than to make
the desires few. Here is a man whose desires are few:-- in some things he
may not be able to keep his heart, but they will be few. Here is a man
whose desires are many:-- in some things he may be able to keep his heart,
but they will be few.'

1. Mencius said, 'Tsang Hsî was fond of sheep-dates, and his son,
the philosopher Tsang, could not bear to eat sheep-dates.'

2. Kung-sun Ch'âu asked, saying, 'Which is best,-- minced meat and
broiled meat, or sheep-dates?' Mencius said, 'Mince and broiled meat, to be
sure.' Kung-sun Ch'âu went on, 'Then why did the philosopher Tsang
eat mince and broiled meat, and would not eat sheep-dates?' Mencius
answered, 'For mince and broiled meat there is a common liking, while that
for sheep-dates was peculiar. We avoid the name, but do not avoid the
surname. The surname is common; the name is peculiar.'

1. Wan Chang asked, saying, 'Confucius, when he was in Ch'an, said: "Let
me return. The scholars of my school are ambitious, but hasty. They are for
advancing and seizing their object, but cannot forget their early ways."
Why did Confucius, when he was in Ch'an, think of the ambitious scholars of
Lû?'

2. Mencius replied, 'Confucius not getting men pursuing the true medium,
to whom he might communicate his instructions, determined to take the
ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent would advance to seize their
object; the cautiously-decided would keep themselves from certain things.
It is not to be thought that Confucius did not wish to get men pursuing the
true medium, but being unable to assure himself of finding such, he
therefore thought of the next class.'

3. 'I venture to ask what sort of men they were who could be styled "The
ambitious?"'

6. The reply was, 'Their aim led them to talk magniloquently, saying, "The
ancients!" "The ancients!" But their actions, where we fairly compare them
with their words, did not correspond with them.

7. 'When he found also that he could not get such as were thus
ambitious, he wanted to get scholars who would consider anything impure as
beneath them. Those were the cautiously-decided, a class next to the
former.'

8. Chang pursued his questioning, 'Confucius said, "They are only your
good careful people of the villages at whom I feel no indignation, when
they pass my door without entering my house. Your good careful people of
the villages are the thieves of virtue." What sort of people were they who
could be styled "Your good careful people of the villages?"'

9. Mencius replied, 'They are those who say, "Why are they so
magniloquent? Their words have not respect to their actions and their
actions have not respect to their words, but they say, "The ancients! The
ancients! Why do they act so peculiarly, and are so cold and distant? Born
in this age, we should be of this age, to be good is all that is needed."
Eunuch-like, flattering their generation;-- such are your good careful men
of the villages.'

10. Wan Chang said, 'Their whole village styles those men good and
careful. In all their conduct they are so. How was it that Confucius
considered them the thieves of virtue?'

11. Mencius replied, 'If you would blame them, you find nothing to
allege. If you would criticise them, you have nothing to criticise. They
agree with the current customs. They consent with an impure age. Their
principles have a semblance of right-heartedness and truth. Their conduct
has a semblance of disinterestedness and purity. All men are pleased with
them, and they think themselves right, so that it is impossible to proceed
with them to the principles of Yâo and Shun. On this account they are
called "The thieves of virtue."

12. 'Confucius said, "I hate a semblance which is not the reality. I
hate the darnel, lest it be confounded with the corn. I hate
glib-tonguedness, lest it be confounded with righteousness. I hate
sharpness of tongue, lest it be confounded with sincerity. I hate the music
of Chang, lest it be confounded with the true music. I hate the reddish
blue, lest it be confounded with vermilion. I hate your good careful men of
the villages, lest they be confounded with the truly virtuous."

13. 'The superior man seeks simply to bring back the unchanging
standard, and, that being correct, the masses are roused to virtue.
When they are so aroused, forthwith perversities and glossed wickedness
disappear.'

1. Mencius said, 'From Yâo and Shun down to T'ang were 500 years
and more. As to Yu and Kâo Yâo, they saw those earliest sages,
and so knew their doctrines, while T'ang heard their doctrines as
transmitted, and so knew them.

2. 'From T'ang to king Wan were 500 years and more. As to Î Yin,
and Lâi Chû, they saw T'ang and knew his doctrines, while king
Wan heard them as transmitted, and so knew them.

3. 'From king Wan to Confucius were 500 years and more. As to
T'âi-kung Wang and San Î-shang, they saw Wan, and so knew his
doctrines, while Confucius heard them as transmitted, and so knew
them.

4. 'From Confucius downwards until now, there are only 100 years and
somewhat more. The distance in time from the sage is so far from being
remote, and so very near at hand was the sage's residence. In these
circumstances, is there no one to transmit his doctrines? Yea, is there no
one to do so?'